Commercial (First)

The Commercial (First) functional constituency (Chinese: 商界（第一）功能界別) is a functional constituency in the elections for the Legislative Council of Hong Kong first created in 1985. The constituency is composed of corporate members of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce (HKGCC) that are entitled to vote at general meetings of the Chamber.

Commercial (First) 商界（第一）
Functional constituency for the Legislative Council of Hong Kong
Country	Hong Kong
Electorate	1,041 (2021)[1]
Current constituency
Created	1985
Number of members	One
Member(s)	Jeffrey Lam (BPA)

It is one of the oldest functional constituencies created for the first elections to the Legislative Council in 1985. Prior to that, the Chamber had its representatives in the council thoroughly through elections at the general meetings since 1884.^[2] It corresponds to the Commercial (First) Subsector in the Election Committee.

History

The Commercial (First) functional constituency was established as First Commercial, one of the two commercial electoral divisions elected by the chambers of commerce. It was one of the original 12 functional constituency seats created for the 1985 Legislative Council election, the first ever election for the colonial legislature. It was composed of bodies that are members of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce (HKGCC) entitled to vote at general meetings of the chamber. Prior to that, the Chamber had its representatives in the council thoroughly through elections at the general meetings since 1884. The representatives are listed as following:

1884–1985 Chamber Legislative Council representatives[3]

Thomas Jackson (1884–1887) A. MacConachie (1884) A. P. MacEwen (1886) A. P. MacEwen (1887–1890) B. Layton (1888) T. H. Whitehead (1890–1902) H. Smith (1900) J. Thurburn (1900) R. G. Shewan (1902) R. G. Shewan (1902–1906) H. E. Pollock (1903) E. A. Hewett (1906–1915) M. Stewart (1908 & 1912) J. W. C. Bonnar (1912) P. H. Holyoak (1915–1926) S. H. Dodwell (1917) E. V. D. Parr (1919) A. O. Lang (1921) D. G. M. Bernard (1926) J. Owen Hughes (1927–1931) B. D. F. Beith (1929) C. G. S. Mackie (1931–1935) W. H. Bell (1932) W. H. Bell (1935–1936) A. W. Hughes (1936–1937) M. T. Johnson (1937–1938) A. L. Shields (1938–1944) J. K. Bousfield (1939) R. D. Gillespie (1946–1948) C. C. Roberts (1948) P. S. Cassidy (1948–1953) C. Blaker (1949) H. J. Collar (1953) C. Blaker (1953–1958) J. A. Blackwood (1954 & 1955) J. D. Clague (1956) J. D. Clague (1958–1960) G. M. Goldsack (1960–1961) W. C. G. Knowles (1961–1964) J. Dickson Leach (1963) G. R. Ross (1964–1968) J. Dickson Leach (1965) M. A. R. Herries (1967) M. A. R. Herries (1968) G. R. Ross (1968) M. A. R. Herries (1969) G. M. B. Salmon (1969) G. R. Ross (1969) G. M. B. Salmon (1970–1972) G. R. Ross J. D. Clague T. K. Ann P. G. Williams (1972–1974) Sidney Gordon J. D. Clague G. R. Ross T. K. Ann P. G. Williams (1975–1976) Sidney Gordon J. D. Clague G. R. Ross T. K. Ann Sidney Gordon (1977–1978) T. K. Ann J. H. Bremridge P. G. Williams Lydia Dunn D. K. Newbigging (1978–1980) Sidney Gordon J. H. Bremridge M. G. R. Sandberg Allen Lee M. G. R. Sandberg (1983–1985) D. K. Newbigging Allen Lee W. C. L. Brown Lydia Dunn Stephen Cheong

Since its creation, it has been held by pro-business conservatives for the exception of former government official Jimmy McGregor, a liberal-leaning representative who defeated Veronica Wu of the conservative bloc Group of 88 in the 1988 Legislative Council election and held the office from 1988 to 1995.^[4] He co-founded the pro-democracy professional-oriented Hong Kong Democratic Foundation (HKDF) and was an ally of the last governor Chris Patten over the controversial constitutional reform proposal.

From 1998 to 2004, the seat was held by pro-business Liberal Party chairman and Executive Councillor James Tien until he contested in the direct election in the 2004 Legislative Council election. Tien's successor Jeffrey Lam who has held the seat since 2004 abruptly quit the Liberal Party in 2008 in the intra-party split. He became representative for the Business and Professionals Alliance for Hong Kong (BPA) and has become member of the Executive Council.

Return members

Election		Member	Party
	1985	Thomas Clydesdale	Nonpartisan
	1988	Jimmy McGregor	Nonpartisan
	1991		HKDF
	1995	Paul Cheng	Independent
Not represented in the PLC
	1998	James Tien	Liberal
	2000
	2004	Jeffrey Lam	Liberal
	2008		Liberal→Independent→Economic Synergy
	2012		Economic Synergy→BPA
	2016		BPA
	2021

Electoral results

2020s

2021 Legislative Council election: Commercial (First)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	BPA	Jeffrey Lam Kin-fung	628	86.15
	Nonpartisan	Edmond Yew Yat-ming	101	13.85
Majority			527	72.30
Total valid votes			729	100.00
Rejected ballots			15
Turnout			744	72.94
Registered electors			1,041
	BPA hold		Swing

2010s

2016 Legislative Council election: Commercial (First)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	BPA	Jeffrey Lam Kin-fung	455	53.97
	Liberal	Joseph Chan Ho-lim	388	46.03
Majority			67	7.94
Total valid votes			843	100.00
Rejected ballots			18
Turnout			861	82.39
Registered electors			1,086
	BPA hold		Swing

2012 Legislative Council election: Commercial (First)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Economic Synergy	Jeffrey Lam Kin-fung	Unopposed
Registered electors			927
	Economic Synergy hold		Swing

2000s

^[5]

2008 Legislative Council election: Commercial (First)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Jeffrey Lam Kin-fung	465	70.24
	Independent	Markus Joytak Shaw	197	29.76
Majority			268	40.48
Total valid votes			662	100.00
Rejected ballots			32
Turnout			694	66.73
Registered electors			1,040
	Liberal hold		Swing

^[6]

2004 Legislative Council election: Commercial (First)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Jeffrey Lam Kin-fung	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,077
	Liberal hold		Swing

^[7]

2000 Legislative Council election: Commercial (First)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	James Tien Pei-chun	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,325
	Liberal hold		Swing

1990s

^[7]

1998 Legislative Council election: Commercial (First)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	James Tien Pei-chun	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,353
	Liberal win (new seat)

1995 Legislative Council election: Commercial (First)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Paul Cheng Ming-fun	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,273
	Independent gain from HKDF		Swing

1991 Legislative Council election: First Commercial

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	HKDF	James David McGregor	487	53.93
	BPF	Paul Cheng Ming-fun	416	46.07
Majority			71	7.86
Total valid votes			903	100.00
Rejected ballots			8
Turnout			911	56.62
Registered electors			1,609
	HKDF hold		Swing

1980s

1988 Legislative Council election: First Commercial

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Nonpartisan	James David McGregor	478	66.95
	Nonpartisan	Veronica Wu Shao-ching	236	33.05
Majority			242	33.90
Total valid votes			714	100.00
	Nonpartisan hold		Swing

1985 Legislative Council election: First Commercial

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Nonpartisan	Thomas Clydesdale	470	59.49
	Nonpartisan	A. C. William Blaauw	320	40.51
Majority			150	18.98
Total valid votes			790	100.00
	Nonpartisan win (new seat)